Instant Pot Apple Butter is a must-make this fall when you have lots of delicious, ripe apples in the house! Made with simple ingredients, it is full of warm and cozy spices and is sweet enough to eat with a spoon! Slather it on scones, bagels, and English muffins, or swirl it into oatmeal!

For years and years my grandfather made the best apple sauce! It was thick and chunky and full of cinnamon. It was so full of cinnamon that the whole thing was almost completely brown, instead of a light golden color. The flavor in this Instant Pot Apple Butter reminds me a lot of that homemade applesauce.
After I got my Instant Pot, I realized how amazing it was at making jams. Instant Pot Blueberry jam, Instant Pot Strawberry jam, and Instant Pot Peach jam can be made in the Instant Pot in a fraction of the time that you would make it on the stove. You won't go back to stovetop jam after you try it in the Instant Pot!
Jump to:
- What is Apple Butter?
- Why This Apple Butter Is Great!
- Ingredients You'll Need
- What Types of Apples Should I Use?
- Let's Make This Instant Pot Apple Butter
- Tips and Tricks
- What To Serve Apple Butter With
- Making Apple Butter Without An Instant Pot
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
- 📖 Recipe
What is Apple Butter?
Apple butter is a spread made with apples that are cooked until they caramelize into a spreadable consistency. Most recipes are infused with warm spices, too.
This homemade apple butter recipe has the same bold flavor and is super easy to make! You don't even need to peel the apples. Just combine everything in the pressure cooker, and let it do the hard work. Prep a big batch on Sunday to enjoy with your breakfasts throughout the week!
Why This Apple Butter Is Great!
- No need to peel the apples! That's right! Don't peel! The pressure from the Instant Pot will cook the apple peels and make them disintegrate into the apple butter.
- It's full of warm, Fall spices! Cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and vanilla. Does it get cozier?
- The Instant Pot does all the hard work! Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure. Then blend it up and you're done!
- It's a great meal prep recipe! Make this on a Sunday and have it on your breakfast pastries throughout the week. It keeps beautifully in the refrigerator!
Ingredients You'll Need

With no artificial sweeteners or unnecessary ingredients, you only need a few items for this recipe!
- Apples. You'll need 3 pounds of apples, which comes out to about 10 small apples or 6 large apples. You can use your favorite apples here! Mine are Gala. So, that is what I used.
- Maple syrup. You'll want to use pure maple syrup here. Don't use the fake stuff, when it comes to maple syrup, pure is the way to go!
- Salt. Seems weird right? Salt in a sweet spread? It's necessary! It counterbalances the sweetness of the apples and maple syrup. Don't skip the salt!
- Flavor enhancers. Vanilla extract, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice are my fall spices of choice.
- Apple cider. To intensify the apple flavor and prevent the Instant Pot from giving you the "burn" warning.
See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
What Types of Apples Should I Use?
Gala are best, but Fuji are a great substitute. Macintosh or Golden Delicious are other varieties that could be made into apple butter. My rule of thumb is if I am going to eat it straight out of the refrigerator, I will use it to make apple butter or apple sauce.
Granny Smiths aren't great for apple butter as they are too tart and don't break down as easily as other apples.
This recipe is also a great way to use up whatever type of apples you have in your refrigerator. You can use a mixture of apples. If the grocery store has tart apples or sweet apples, use a mixture of both in this delicious apple butter!
Let's Make This Instant Pot Apple Butter
Step 1: Wash the apples and cut them into pieces. Add the apples and the rest of the ingredients to the bowl of the Instant Pot.
Step 2: Cover and seal the Instant Pot. Set the pressure to "HIGH" for 15 minutes. Once the cooking is done, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for another 15 minutes.


Step 3: After the pressure has released, carefully open the lid, and place an immersion blender in the Instant Pot. Blend the mixture carefully to create smooth apple butter. It's very hot at this stage!
Step 4: Serve right away, or transfer it to an airtight container for later.


Tips and Tricks
- No apple cider? A cup of water or apple juice can be used instead. You'll need some sort of liquid, or the Instant Pot will give you a burn warning and won't cook.
- Don't have maple syrup on hand? Honey, granulated sugar, or brown sugar are all perfect substitutes for maple syrup. Adjust the amount included, depending on what you use and how sweet you prefer your apple butter.
- This pressure cooker apple butter takes about 40 minutes from start to finish to make. The Instant Pot takes 10-15 minutes to build up enough pressure to cook the apples. Then, it will cook for 15 minutes and will release the remaining pressure for another 15 minutes.
- The apple butter will thicken as it cools. When the apple butter is hot and freshly pureed, it will look too watery. As it cools, the sugars and natural pectin thicken to a perfect spreadable consistency.
- Other optional add-ins - A squeeze of lemon juice once pureed brings out the brightness of the flavors. Or, a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger ups the spice of the apple butter a little more.
What To Serve Apple Butter With
Think of apple butter like an apple jam, and use it the same way you would use a berry jam. I love to use it on a buttered Sourdough bagel, Sourdough scone, and toasted sourdough English muffins.
Or, use it’s great as a topping for oatmeal, Instant Pot yogurt, applesauce pancakes, or apple cinnamon waffles. You can also enjoy it as a dessert with vanilla ice cream or over apple pie a la mode!
Apple butter can be enjoyed chilled or at room temperature.
Making Apple Butter Without An Instant Pot
If you don't have an Instant Pot you can still make this apple butter. It will take a little longer, but you can still do it!
Slow Cooker Version - Add all the ingredients to a slow cooker, and cook it on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. After the cook time is up, blend the apple butter with an immersion blender or high-speed blender.
In a Dutch Oven - Place all the ingredients in a large Dutch Oven, and place it on the stove on medium-low heat. Cook the apples for two hours or until they are completely soft. Stir occasionally to make sure the apples and spices do not stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. Blend it all up with an immersion blender when soft.

Frequently Asked Questions
I'm not a canning expert, so I wouldn't recommend canning this recipe. There are tons of resources out that when it comes to canning, but I would stick to the most reliable ones, like Ball.
If you don't have an immersion blender, you can blend this up in a regular blender. Wait until the cooked apples are cooled slightly and then add it to a blender or food processor to puree it. The apple butter is very hot when it comes out of the pressure cooker, which can be really dangerous when blending it up. Be super careful if you choose to blend it up hot.
Apple butter will last up to a week in the refrigerator in an air tight container. I like keeping mine stored in a glass mason jar. You can also freeze this in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. I would not freeze this in glass mason jars though.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
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📖 Recipe

Instant Pot Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 3 lb Apples about 10 small apples, or 6 large
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla
- ⅓ cup Apple Cider
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Wash the apples and cut them into pieces, discarding the cores. No need to peel. The apple peels will melt away under the pressure of the Instant Pot.
- Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot and stir to get the apples coated in the spices.
- Close the Instant Pot and set it on "HIGH" for 15 minutes.
- Once the cooking is complete, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 15 minutes.
- Open the lid and with an immersion blender, carefully blend the apples until it is to your desired consistency. Allow the apple butter to cool and then store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
- Gala or Fuji are my favorite apples to use. Golden delicious, ginger gold, or Macintosh would work as well. If you want to use Granny Smith, add more maple syrup to the recipe to counteract the tartness of the apples.
- Honey, brown sugar, or granulated sugar would be substitutes for maple syrup.
- The apple butter will thicken as it cools, so no need to add any sort of thickening agent to the recipe.
Meredith says
This apple butter is sooooooo good, and super easy to make too! Thanks for the great recipe, we'll definitely be making more of this.
lynnswayoflife says
So glad you enjoyed it!